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CCC too slow on Taser case

Aleisha Orr

Kevin Spratt and his partner arrive at the CCC for the start of the inquiry into his repeated tasering by police. Photo: Katherine Fenech

A report into the Corruption and Crime Commission's operations has found that it should have begun an investigation into a now notorious tasering case, much earlier than it did.

While the report by the Joint Standing Committee was critical of the time the commission took to begin their investigation into the Kevin Spratt matter, in general it commended the CCC.

The report which was tabled in Parliament on Thursday was a result of an inquiry into the way the CCC handles notifications of police misconduct.

It praised the commission for its recent moves to put greater priority on investigating allegations of police misconduct.

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The report found that the current Western Australian police integrity model was appropriate and comprehensive, and that the strong internal culture of the WA Police was aided by the presence of the CCC.

Committee chairman Nick Goiran said there were two main findings in the report.

"Firstly, the WA Police are an agency that boasts a strong internal culture of integrity, as well as a demonstrated commitment to maintaining and enhancing this culture," he said.

"Secondly, although the CCC does not always receive the credit that it deserves for the good work that it does in this area, there is no doubt that the CCC makes a sizeable contribution to the professionalism and integrity of the WA Police."

The committee formed the view that the CCC should have conducted its inquiry into the Spratt matter when it was first apprised of the incident in September 2008, rather than waiting until November 2010.

While the committee found that the inquiry was necessary, the decision by the CCC to initially leave the matter to the WA Police for internal investigation "was a serious error of judgement."

According to the committee the CCC had since responded well to this incident.

"The committee is confident that the raft of amendments to CCC process and procedure that have been implemented by Commissioner (Roger) Macknay since his appointment last November are demonstrative of a recognition of that expectation, and will ensure that Western Australia will be even better served by the CCC in the performance of its vital independent police oversight role into the future," Mr Goiran said.